A critical review of international practice on seismic design of reinforced concrete buildings

Comparisons are made between the provisions for the earthquake-resistant design of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in Eurocode 8 and those from three countries with a long tradition in seismic Code development, i.e. the USA, New Zealand, and Japan. The paper gives particular emphasis to the design of frame structures. Likely future developments to Codes in the four regions are outlined, and critical aspects of the provisions that should be reviewed during the process of development of a truly international Code, probably within the framework of the International Federation for Concrete (fib) activities, are identified.